A Lancaster County judge blocked Virginia's assault-firearm ban statewide on June 25, and law enforcement across the commonwealth had already been telling the governor the same thing.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 749 on May 15, banning the sale, manufacture, import, and transfer of AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles, along with magazines holding more than 15 rounds. The law was set to take effect July 1. It may never actually take effect at all.
On June 25, Lancaster County Circuit Judge John Martin granted a statewide preliminary injunction in Crump v. Katz, the case brought by Gun Owners of America, the Gun Owners Foundation, and the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Judge Martin found that SB 749 likely violates Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, which protects the right of Virginians to keep and bear arms. He refused the Commonwealth's request to limit the injunction to Lancaster County. The order runs through at least December 31, 2026, or until a final ruling on the merits. Attorney General Jay Jones announced an appeal to the Virginia Court of Appeals the following day.
That injunction arrived on top of a rebellion that had already been building for weeks. By late June, 12 sheriffs and 17 commonwealth's attorneys across Virginia had publicly pledged not to enforce the law. The Virginia Citizens Defense League president Philip Van Cleave has been tracking the count and releasing the names. The sheriffs come from Appomattox, Clarke, Floyd, Hanover, Henry, Louisa, Patrick, Powhatan, Scott, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, and Warren counties. That is a geographic sweep from the Northern Shenandoah Valley to Southside Virginia.
Smyth County Commonwealth's Attorney Phillip Blevins Jr. put it plainly. He called SB 749 "unconstitutional and unenforceable" and said he would not bring charges under it. The reasoning runs through every prosecutor who has gone on record: their oath is to the United States Constitution and the Virginia Constitution, and a statute that conflicts with either one does not bind them. AG Jones has pushed back hard, insisting that commonwealth's attorneys are obligated to enforce state law when it takes effect. But Hanover County Sheriff Gregory Six, Spotsylvania County Sheriff Roger Harris, and their counterparts across the state have shown no sign of backing down.
The Washington Times reported in late May that prosecutors were already organizing their refusals before the ink had dried on Spanberger's signature. The numbers grew through June. The movement echoes Virginia's 2019 and 2020 Second Amendment sanctuary drive, when more than 90 localities passed resolutions declaring they would not enforce anticipated gun restrictions from Richmond. This time the rebellion is not symbolic resolutions from county boards; it is sitting sheriffs and elected prosecutors saying the same thing on the record.
The Injunction Changes the Calculus
Whatever Jones manages at the Court of Appeals, the statewide injunction means Virginia State Police cannot enforce the sales, transfer, or import ban while litigation proceeds. Judge Martin's finding that the law likely fails on state constitutional grounds is a significant early signal. The plaintiffs are arguing the Virginia Constitution's explicit arms-bearing protection bars the kind of categorical ban Spanberger signed, and Martin agreed they have a strong enough case to halt enforcement now.
Gun owners in Virginia have until December 31 to continue purchasing the now-banned firearms and magazines, or until a higher court overturns the injunction, whichever comes first. Jones is moving urgently. How quickly the Court of Appeals acts will determine whether the July 1 date has any practical meaning at all.
Spanberger has not commented publicly on the sheriffs and prosecutors who have lined up against her law. The governor's office did not respond to requests for comment at the time of the Washington Times reporting. With a circuit court already calling the law likely unconstitutional, and nearly three dozen law enforcement officials refusing to touch it, the bill she signed with fanfare in May is fighting for its life before it ever went into effect.
Also read: Florida court strikes 18-to-20 concealed carry ban as unconstitutional • Armed Shoppers Stopped a Missouri Grocery Store Killer on Memorial Day • Second Amendment groups fight back as states ban 3D-printed gun files
